


Can you hear the Drums?

by northpeach, wolfsrainrules



Series: Jumanji: Jungle Survival [1]
Category: Jumanji (1995), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Movies), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe Jumanji Fusion, Deku Does Not Have One for All, Deku Kacchan and Aizawa get sucked into Jumanji, Deku Stays Quirkless, Deku is a badass, Do not post to another site, Family of Choice, Found Family, Gen, Inko will be terrifying when her son comes home with dangerous murder family, Izuku has a spine of titanium, Izuku knows how to stand up for himself, Jumanji: The Ultimate How To Grow Up Terrifying Starter Package, Mama Bear Inko, Overprepared is just a word, PTSD, Parental Aizawa Shouta, Precannon to Cannon, Quirkless Deku, Quirkless Hero Deku, Scars, Supportive Aizawa Shouta, Survival, Survival against Jumanji means he can handle quirks, Trauma, bullying didn’t get bad in this timeline, but he’s still traumatized, especially when this jumanji has supernatural creatures, he’s not gonna take shit from anyone, honestly y’all, jungle survival, there’s nothing these humans can do or say to him that is worse than what he fought in Jumanji
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2020-10-13 00:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20573756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northpeach/pseuds/northpeach, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfsrainrules/pseuds/wolfsrainrules
Summary: Izuku loved strategy and survival games. They made him think, and were one of the few things that Kacchan agreed with him on. So when he found the old game he had never seen before, and it was free, he took it.And he got an up close and personal look at the saying ‘actions have consequences’.Some consequences teach you a valuable lesson, some change your life, and some impart the instinct to keep a knife on you at all times along with the need to grow your own food.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [When Life is a Game (Don't Lose)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19876648) by [cywscross](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cywscross/pseuds/cywscross). 

> ...so.  
Another Jumanji fic.  
Yup.  
Enjoy?

Izuku found the game by chance in a yard sale. It hadn’t even had a price on it- it was free, and when he opened it, it sounded fun. 

_ (He could hear drums in the air, but he set that aside. It was a toy somewhere in collection of old toys, obviously.) _

When he brought it to the owner of the home, they had waved him off, promising it was an old board game of his grandfather’s that he had  _ hated _ , so it was fine if Izuku wanted to take it, no charge,  _ really _ .

_ (Later, Izuku would wonder if that man had  _ ** _known_ ** _ what he was giving Izuku, if he had known what the game would  _ do. _ ) _

Izuku was happy to take the game, even if he was a bit confused by the look on the former owner’s face and he didn’t hesitate to take it home. He spent at least an hour studying the rules, and warnings along the folding case, and flipping tokens through his hands. He liked the sound of a survival game, of a game that would work to make him  _ think _ , if what he was getting from the rules was correct.

He smiled at the menacing warning,  _ “Do not begin, unless you intend to finish _ ,” written along the board’s folding sides.

As if he would stop  _ halfway _ through, honestly. Still, the bold red letters amused him.

_ How quaint,  _ he thought,  _ how clever. _

_ (Oh, he  _ despaired _ later, at the  _ ** _fool_ ** _ he had been, at the disregard he gave the entirely serious warning towards a real threat. At the joy he had felt for a challenge.  _

_ He had never wanted this. Not  _ this _ .) _

Izuku found hand written instructions tucked into the game, witten in a hasty hand, frantic and crooked in nature, as if they had been written on the run, and tucked in later. He smiled at the touches, the thought put into the mood of the game, how it was made to look like a desperate warning to any who played this survival game.

The warnings about supernatural creatures from all over the globe, the bold, underlined, and all capital- 

_ “DO NOT CHEAT. DO NOT USE YOUR QUIRKS.” _

-dead center of the list. Very eye-catching, and it almost looked like it had been written in blood.  _ (And in the back of his mind, always working, he noted that the warning  _ ** _separated_ ** _ the two sentences, ‘do not cheat’ and ‘do not use your quirks’, two seperate warnings.) _

How atmospheric. Still, he didn’t have a Quirk and it wasn’t like he was going to  _ cheat _ at a  _ strategy game _ , honestly, Izuku has more pride than  _ that. _

The only plainly worded, if not slightly confusing, warning was at the bottom, a simple and clear:

_ “Three Strikes and you’re Out” _

Izuku didn’t quite understand that one, not then, but he noted it down anyway, memorizing the list and wondering at how the was supposed to work when the list warned of  _ worlds, _ of  _ zones _ , and changing rules. Maybe it was a bit like D&D? He folded the paper, and tucked it into his pockets, so he could share it with the others who were going to play with him.

He looked forward to it, excitement making him giddy. It would be interesting to see how the changes to each ‘zone’ in the game affected the rules. It would be  _ fun _ to have a game that changed so constantly Izuku might not be able to pick it apart within the first ten minutes, might have to struggle a bit. 

_ Might have  _ fun.

Izuku asked Kacchan if he wanted to join him down at the Center to play.

Who else would he offer the choice to, but his oldest friend? 

(- _ he’snotafriend _ ** _anymore_ ** _ ,whenwillyou _ ** _learn?_ ** _ ) _

Sure they had been drifting for a long while, and some days Kacchan was more violent than he had any right to be, but there were other days, where Kacchan acted the way he used to. Where he seemed to pause, and consider what he was doing, what he was saying.

And those times were getting fewer and fewer in nature, as the adults around them encouraged his actions in various ways, always enforced the idea that those with quirks were  _ more _ than those with none...but they were still there, Kacchan was still  _ there _ under all the bully and bluster.

Izuku  _ hoped _ .

This last week, Kacchan had been more like they used to be, more open to interaction and playing together. So Izuku offered him the chance to join him down at the Quirkless Center, to play a new board game that focused on survival and strategy, that sounded interesting and challenging.  _ (And Kacchan would know what it meant that  _ Izuku _ used the worlds ‘interesting’ and ‘challenging’ both.) _

It boasted of ever changing obstacles and trials, that no game would be the same no matter how many times they played, of shifting and varying settings and zones.

Kacchan didn’t much look like it, but he  _ was _ strategic in nature, and he enjoyed games like the ones Izuku did. It was one of the things they had bonded over, before everything. Was something they  _ still _ did even now, even if it was becoming less and less common to see.

Izuku knew one of the volunteers, down at the center, who would enjoy a game like this too. He made a note to invite him. It would be a sixty-forty chance he’d join in. The odds were in his favor, so he squared his shoulders and managed to ask without rambling too much.

Aizawa-sensei was constantly tired, and laid back, but he was  _ smart _ , one of the only adults who ever gave Izuku a run for his money, and he was also one of the few adults present who seemed to  _ actually care _ about the quirkless who came to the center for support.

He was one of the only adults that Izuku had ever met, who would  _ fight _ other adults who discriminated against them.  _ (He’d seen him  _ punch _ one of the more violent men, who liked to show up at the Center and try to get ‘rid’ of those who didn’t fit in with society’s expectations. It was  _ ** _glorious_ ** _ .) _

Izuku adored him.  _ (And had some theories about Aizawa-sensei being an underground hero, that he knew better than to voice out loud.) _

( _ Even if they were entirely true, and Izuku would never tell, but he had  _ proof!)

Still, he was excited, when Kacchan said  _ yes _ , and agreed to head down to the Center and meet him there. Izuku was happy to tuck the tokens and dice away, fold the board up, and giddily shove it into his messenger bag, next to a few blank notebooks and pens, just in case he needed them. 

He kissed his mother’s cheek, bid her a cheerful  _ ‘see you later, I love you’ _ , dressed in comfortable jeans and a t-shirt, with his red shoes, throwing his messenger bag over his shoulder, and rushed out the door.

_ (Later, he would be  _ ** _unspeakably_ ** _ thankful that the last thing he ever said to his mother, was ‘ _ ** _I love you_ ** _ .’ That the last thing he heard her say to him was “I love you too.”) _

By the time Kacchan had arrived, Aizawa-sensei had agreed to play, and Izuku had started setting up the board, while Aizawa was reading the handwritten notes, already finished with the side boards.

Izuku hesitantly smiled at Bakugou as he settled across from them, and leaned forward to read the rules on the side boards, while Aizawa finished the handwritten ones. 

Kacchan wrinkled his nose at him, always more controlled in Aizawa-sensei’s presence, because the man didn’t put up with any of Kacchan’s more...spirited actions or reactions, and usually wrapped him up in his scarf  _ (he was  _ ** _so_ ** _ Eraserhead, Izuku didn’t  _ care _ what everyone else thought.) _ when he thought to try his luck anyway.

Still, it was a calm response and Izuku basked in it.

Aizawa passed the handwritten notes over to the blonde, and then eyed the tokens.

Izuku had already chosen his, an owl token, carved to look as if it was mid dive, wings stretched wide. Aizawa-sensei had chosen a stalking panther token, and Katsuki eventually picked up a lunging snow leopard token.

Izuku picked up the dice, and grinned up at the other two players

_ (Faintly, but growing stronger, as if just out of sight, he could hear drums. He dismissed them- just the tv in another room.) _

He rolled.

A six.

His eyes widened as his owl slid forward-  _ on it’s own _ \- and the green orb in the center of the game, previously dark, lit from within, words appearing on the surface.

_ POISONOUS AND FAST TO GROW _

_ IF YOU’RE NOT QUICK _

_ TOMORROW GOES. _

Izuku tilted his head, squinting at the words. The game was obviously warning about poisonous plants, but how was he supposed to-

The drums in the air swelled, and Izuku’s head jerked up, before he felt an odd tugging sensation at his toes. 

He looked down and scrambled to his feet as he realized he was  _ fading _ like he was made out of dust, that was being sucked towards the orb, still glowing and pulsing unnaturally.

Kacchan and Aizawa-sensei both jumped to their feet, and Izuku was so scared he couldn’t even scream. Panic was stealing the breath in his lungs anyway, it wasn’t like he had enough air to  _ speak, _ let alone shout.

_ What was happening _ .

Izuku leaned away from the game, but when he tried to step backwards he couldn’t move. He was frozen in place, and  _ still _ fading from sight, towards the sucking swirling green of the orb.

Aizawa-sensei reached for him, but he passed through even the solid parts of his body. A flash of red eyes and floating hair-  _ Eraserhead, he knew it!- _ and still nothing changed, nothing stopped. He was still going, his limbs fading into green mist. Izuku’s terrified gaze locked onto Eraserhead’s eyes. The barest traces of fear crept over the underground hero’s face.

Izuku’s heart skipped a beat.

Even Kacchan scrambled to attempt to grab him, but his efforts had the same lack of results.

“ _ Deku!” _

“K-Kacchan- I don’t, I don’t know what-” Izuku gasped in a terrified breath, as the fading reached his waist, and sped towards his chest.

_ Lungs! _

His eyes met wide, frightened red and then moved to hard and focused onyx. 

“I’ll get you out, Izuku.” Aizawa’s voice was strong, intense, focused, and Izuku finally felt the tears he was too terrified to cry begin to well up.

“Promise?” his voice was small, shaking, and pleading for some sort of miracle.

Aizawa nodded, firmly, without hesitation, keeping his gaze fixated on him.

“I won’t stop,” he promised, with a hard tone, and he was a  _ hero _ , Izuku knew. He had sworn, his eyes said he was serious.

Izuku closed his eyes as the fading reached his neck, cutting off his words, his breath and then, with the strange sensation of falling, Izuku’s feet hit the ground.

He opened his eyes.

Before his disbelieving gaze…

...all he saw was  _ jungle _ . 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a mixed and mashed collection of bits in how Jumanji works- from the old and new ones as well as our own personal twists.

Aizawa Shouta enjoyed his time at the Quirkless Outreach Center. 

It was a way for him to support the children that often needed it most, and to pass important lessons most of society seemed to forget.

It didn’t matter what quirk a person had, their actions made them who they were.

He became a pillar to children who had no one else. He’s built himself to be a support to those who were collapsing. He was a  _ hero _ in all the ways that mattered, the ways that meant the most. The ways that had driven him to be an underground hero in the first place.

He had no need for fame, for  _ rankings _ , or  _ popularity. _ Didn’t want it, didn’t care. 

It relaxed him, reminded him why he worked at UA, why he agreed to teach children to be the next great heroes of tomorrow. Reminded him why he expelled some of his past students.

And he knew he wasn’t supposed to pick favorites, but well- every teacher did, no matter what they said. He just knew better than to let it affect how he treated the other children.

Midoriya Izuku was his favorite.

The boy was  _ painfully _ smart, analytical, and focused. He wanted to be a hero for all the  _ right _ reasons, and he persevered in the face of so much hardship, so many voices raised in unison telling him he never could, to give up, it was useless. He broke down quirks and their applications the way most people breathed, and Aizawa had long ago sworn to himself that he would submit a recommendation for him to Nedzu when it came time for the boy to apply to UA. 

And he would, Aizawa was certain.

He rather hoped he could talk the boy into being an underground hero. They could always use more of those, but even if he wanted to be a ‘spotlight’ hero, Aizawa thought he could do it, and he made sure to show that in every way he could.

He was certain the boy knew who he was, even if he never actually voiced it aloud. And he still flushed just a little when he remembered the rant about how, even if All Might was amazing, Eraserhead was his favorite hero, because he- essentially- fought quirkless against everyone he took in to the police.

Aizawa was never anyone’s favorite, and he didn’t do what he did, didn’t go out of his way to stay out of sight of the media, to  **be** a favorite for a child. 

He did it to  **save** them, but this boy had still declared it to a room full of children, and argued with anyone that tried to put him down, and Aizawa was...flattered.

Intensely so. 

_ (Especially since, at the time, Izuku  _ ** _hadn’t_ ** _ known who he was.) _

Because his arguments were well thought out and logical, and true. He didn’t set Aizawa- Eraserhead- on a pedestal. He loved him as he was. Aizawa had asked him questions about what he knew and probed at him, just to see  _ why _ and how the boy thought, and it was those well thought out breakdowns, that brought the child to his attention in the first place.

That Izuku could- had- broken down clips and bits of fights for him, in the few seconds it took him to  _ watch them _ , only enforced the idea that Aizawa was going to recommend him. 

He liked to play strategy games with the kid, and was pleasantly surprised to find a challenge in him.

So when Izuku brought in a new game, and asked him if he wanted to play, Aizawa stood from his place and walked over to the game table, where he sat down and started to go over the rules.

Bakugou Katsuki would be joining them. Aizawa had worked hard to help widen the blonde boy’s world view, and stop him from developing a superiority complex, but it was  _ hard _ when he was working against every other adult figure in the kid’s life.

It was slow going, but Aizawa wasn’t one to give up on the hard cases.

And then the game started  _ sucking Izuku into the orb at the center of it. _

Aizawa hadn’t felt cold  _ fear _ and adrenaline dump itself down his spine like that in  _ years _ . He hadn’t had his fight or flight instinct kick towards  _ fight _ like that since he was a teenager. He hadn’t felt the licks of  _ anger _ well up his chest like a wildfire since then either. 

Nothing he did worked to  _ stop _ it, and all Aizawa could think was that the game was some sort of object quirk fueled  _ thing _ and it had  _ taken _ one of the children in his care.

He  _ wasn’t having it. _

* * *

Katsuki struggled with how to view Deku. 

Aizawa-sensei told him that Deku was just as good as him, but  _ everyone else _ said that he was better, that Deku didn’t have much hope of...anything really, and he was destined to rise to the top.

And some days, Katsuki agreed with everyone else. He  _ was _ better than everyone else, he  _ was _ going to be Number One, he  _ was _ destined for more, it was obvious.

But then...other days, Deku was the quicksilver kind of dangerously smart, that Katsuki admired. He was able to break down hero fights on the street at a glance, and he may not have had a quirk but he still kept up with Katsuki.

And Aizawa’s voice echoed in his head, speaking about heroes, and saving people. About how he wouldn’t ever be able to  _ choose _ who to save at a glance, that he would have to save everyone, even those he called ‘extras’, and there were other arguments Aizawa-sensei made that just…

They  _ made sense _ . They made more sense than everyone else.

And Deku used to be- still was?- his best friend, even now, and- and Katsuki  _ missed _ the fucking nerd some days, not that he’d ever fucking  _ say _ that out loud.

But...how could  _ so many _ people say one thing, the same thing, and be wrong when only one person was saying something else?

He struggled with it.

_ (Some days he wondered, if he ever would have  _ thought _ about how he treated Deku, if Aizawa hadn’t stopped him, hadn’t pulled him aside to talk about it. He had never yelled, but he’d broken the situation down for him, and that thought...terrifies Katsuki some days. _

_ Terror makes him angry.) _

But watching Deku-  _ Izuku _ \- his childhood friend being  _ sucked into a board game _ , Katsuki can’t stop himself from crying out, from reaching for him.

_ (And  _ ** _oh_ ** _ , oh, it hits him then- is  _ ** _this_ ** _ what Izuku felt when he fell off the log so long ago, when he climbed into the river and offered him a hand? _

_ Was  _ this _ what Izuku had reacted too, that bone deep terror, that  _ ** _need_ ** _ to do something- anything- where your body reacts before your brain, and you’re reaching out before you even know that you are? _

_ He hadn’t been looking down on him. _

_ It was  _ ** _instinct_ ** _ . _

_ And Katsuki  _ prays _ that he doesn’t understand this truth just in time to  _ ** _lose_ ** _ Izuku.) _

Aizawa-sensei is  _ furious _ , and Katsuki understands.

He understands, and he listens as Aizawa breaks down what he thinks the board game is, that now that they started it, they may be stuck  _ completing it _ . He listens to the man swear that no matter  _ what _ they face, no matter what happens next, he  _ will _ keep them both alive and safe.

Katsuki believes him.

And Katsuki remembers terrified green eyes, the hand that had lifted towards him, almost like Deku didn’t even realize he did it, the way Katsuki had reached back before he’d known he was going to, and passed through him anyway-

And Katsuki rolls the dice.

* * *

There’s a text screen in front of him. 

Izuku is shaking, terrified, his eyes flashing around the forest, but the text remains in front of him anyway, bright green on a black background, and he can’t help but read it.

**Welcome to Jumanji!**

**Now that you have begun the game, there’s no turning back! **

*******

**Keep an eye on your mini-map, it tracks where you’ve been!**

** Pressing it will enlarge the map, and it will track creature settlements you’ve visited when enlarged. **

**The map will allow you to track your teammates and their health once you agree to party! **

**Games are more fun when you play together!**

*******

**Voicing “Menu” will bring up your options.**

**Menu** will allow you to track:  
  
** ** **-Your in progress and pending quests  
** ** **-Creatures and the information you have on them   
** ** **-Will recall the board and dice so you may continue the game, and see progress** **Allow you to access your inventory.   
** ** **-Access the Rules **

**** **** **** ****

****Please note that the Menu option is not available when Enemies are in the Area.**

*******

**Please note, that as a “NEW GAME” this is the only exception to the Menu** rule. **

**More information will become available as you progress!**

*******

**BEGIN IN 3...2...1…**

Izuku jumped as the text boxes disappeared, and he was left standing in the jungle, staring around him. 

The sounds, smells, and humidity in the air felt so  _ real _ . What kind of quirk  _ was this _ .

And then he gasps sharply, as the slithering sound he had heard suddenly got  _ louder _ .

It’s not an animal.

It’s  _ plants _ . Vines. Darting across the ground, aimed  _ right at him _ , and Izuku remains still for only a moment, terror crawling up his throat.

The riddle he had seen comes back in a flash of memory: 

_ Poisonous and Fast to Grow _

_ If you’re Not Quick,  _

_ Tomorrow Goes. _

Izuku doesn’t hesitate any more. He turns on his heel and  ** _runs_ ** . He runs, and he prays. He hopes that he’s fast enough, that he can handle whatever  _ poisonous _ turns out to mean. 

Is it deadly? An inconvenience? 

He doesn’t want to sit still and find out.

The plants  _ chase him _ . 

Izuku has never been so afraid in his life.

* * *

The hardest thing Aizawa has ever done is watch determined, but terrified, red eyes meet his and  _ hold them _ , as Bakugou Katsuki fades in front of his eyes. 

A child he had silently promised himself to look after, swept away in front of his eyes  _ again. _ This time with full knowledge that rolling the dice to this game will pull him inside. But the quirk-game had  _ warned them  _ not to play if they didn’t plan to finish multiple times. The handwritten notes had reinforced it, warned of deadly consequences if they tried to stop anyway. He didn’t want to imagine what the game would do, could do, if they disobeyed when it had already sucked in one of their number.

So he watches, and he swears to himself, holding terrified red eyes, that he  _ will _ get these kids through this game, whatever it throws at them.

And when Katsuki has faded from the room, his snow leopard four spaces forward, Aizawa takes a deep breath and reaches for the dice. 

He’s  _ not _ leaving them inside that game alone any longer than he absolutely has to. 

_ THEY LIKE TO LAUGH _

_ BUT THEY’RE NOT YOUR FRIENDS _

_ IF YOU TAKE THEM LIGHTLY _

_ IT WILL BE YOUR END _

Aizawa lands in packed dirt, tucking himself into a roll, coming up swiftly to his feet and scanning his surroundings with practiced ease. There’s text boxes in front him- bright golden yellow on black- that he reads quickly, frowning. 

A three second countdown is the only warning he gets before the boxes disappear as he reaches that last box, and he moves to take in his surroundings better. He’s standing on a small mountain path, above a jungle, and surrounded by caves and a mountain range. He falls back to old habits, walking softly as he tries to get his bearings and figure out his riddle.

And then the breathless, high sounding cackles echo through the cave systems.

Aizawa feels a chill crawl over his back, and his danger senses  _ scream. _

He ducks, and over his head, a real life, actual  _ hyena _ has lunged for his throat, and- due to his reflexes- missed.

* * *

It is only the ringing warning from Aizawa to  _ not use his quirk _ , backed by the warning on the strange text boxes- deep orange-red on black- that keeps him from using his quirk.

He shakes, eyes darting around the area, as he tries to figure out where he is, and how he can find the others. He’s also trying to spot what his riddle had mentioned, even as he rushes quickly onward.

_ IN THE JUNGLE THEY WILL STALK _

_ YOU MUST RUN AND DO NOT STOP _

_ MISS YOUR MARK AND PAY THE PRICE _

_ ONLY THE HOUSE WILL STOP YOUR STRIFE _

_ What _ was stalking him? And how was he supposed to find a  _ house _ in a  _ jungle _ ? The jungle was  _ huge _ was he even going in the right direction? What if he missed it, or was going the wrong way? How was he supposed to  _ know _ ? Was that his ‘mark?’ If he missed it  _ what _ price would he have to pay?

He kept his eyes peeled, scanning his surroundings, hoping he’d find  _ something _ . The map was useless to him for now, utterly gray except in small spaces at the moment. He hadn’t  _ been _ anywhere, for it to be filled in yet.

He tried to control his building panic. He knew panic was bad, it led to stupid choices. 

The jungle sounds- so very different than the sounds of his home- were making it worse, making him startle and jump. He’d never heard anything like it, and every little sound was new and  _ scary _ , because he had no idea what the sounds  _ meant _ , and he was supposed to be being  _ chased _ right now.

He wanted to find the others. He wanted Aizawa, he wanted Deku, he wanted this to  _ stop. _

He whirled as a branch snapped, and his eyes widened with terrified horror as he spotted what, exactly, he was supposed to run from.

_ Lionesses. _

Katsuki turned, and he  ** _ran_ ** .

* * *

The only thing that is letting Izuku see through his tears is pure survival instinct. 

And practice, sure, but mostly the desire to  _ not die. _

He doesn’t bother to look behind him. He’s already learned to watch where he’s headed, and to keep an eye out for movement that doesn’t belong. He’d already made the mistake of climbing a tree once in an attempt to buy a few moments of rest.

That...had been a bad idea. The ground was safer. He just has to watch for plants that were moving where they shouldn’t. And for the barbs they shot at him. That was why he was weaving around without any set pattern, trying to keep trees between his back and the plants that were behind him. He’d also learned the even  _ touching _ the plants was a bad idea, they shimmered strangely under the light, and the one monkey who had grabbed the vine and been dragged along behind him…didn’t last very long afterwards.

Izuku tried to control his breathing. How long would this riddle last? How long would he have to run? Would it be  _ forever? _ A day? Would this plant chase randomly? Constantly? 

This quirk-game  _ didn’t make sense _ .

He hopped the other two would be better, would be  _ safe _ . They’d come after him, even Kacchan, he knew.

The game had said they couldn’t start unless they planned to finish after all.

Izuku slid down a hidden ravine, making a low terrified sound, even as he tried to adjust so he wouldn't tumble down the side. He managed to stagger and keep his feet as he came to the end of the slide, carrying new bruises and scrapes, but _ alive _ .

He still didn’t look behind him.

The eyes followed him anyways.


	3. Chapter 3

Aizawa Shouta hated hyenas. 

He  _ hadn’t _ , of course, but after this?

Oh he  _ totally _ did. He  _ loathed _ them. The high cackle of their supposed ‘laughter’ would echo in his head for  _ years _ . His nightmares would now have new content to chose from and he was already dreading what his subconscious would conjure up.

He hissed, ignoring the sting of the new- glancing- claw marks he carried on his arm. He’d raised it defensively, while using his scarf to stop hyena jaws from closing over his throat. It had worked, but the beast had scrambled and tried to pull the scarf from Aizawa’s hands.

It hadn’t worked, and he’d gotten a bit clawed in his escape, but he was  _ alive _ , and the hyena was... _ not _ .

He was still, crouched with his back to the mountain, under a ledge that would allow no one to jump down onto him- they’d have to fall in front of him first. He... _ didn’t hear _ any more hyenas. Didn’t have the tingle of his sixth sense crawling over the back of his neck. Didn’t see anymore either.

How-

_ Wait _ .

The menu wouldn’t show up in the presence of enemies. Could he…

“Menu!” 

Aizawa jerked back a little when the text box popped up in front of him, large letters, bolded word message flashing in gold lettering in front of him:

**Congratulations!**

**You’ve completed your riddle!**

**Roll Again?****

****In Jumanji, it’s a race to the finish line between you and the other players, unless you are in Quest Mode (only available with a Party of two or more). **

**Finish the game quickly, and you’ll win! You may roll as soon as your riddle is complete, or continue exploring.**

Aizawa stared at the information box, before he dismissed it without rolling again. He didn’t want to play the game right now. He wanted to find his kids.

Katsuki would be the easiest to find- his riddle had placed him inside the jungle. Then he’d have to figure out how to find Izuku. His had involved plants, so hopefully he would  _ also _ be in the jungle.

He’d hunt him down no matter where he had ended up though.

_ (He prayed-) _

He’d  _ promised _ .

* * *

Katsuki was a stress cryer. He didn’t really cry often, but any time that he had, it had been due to a very stressful situation. Like the time his dad had gotten caught up in a villain fight, and ended up in the hospital. Or the time Auntie Inko got sick, and it was bad enough that Izuku had to stay with them for a week while his mom took care of Auntie. The time he got into a fight with three boys two grades above him, and even though he won it had still hurt, and there had been a point where he wasn’t sure he was  _ going _ to win.

And,  _ apparently _ , and understandably, when lions were chasing him. 

It was hard to remember to keep looking for some kind of ‘house’ when all he wanted to do was scream, and watch the lionesses to make sure they didn’t come any closer than they were. But according to his riddle, if he found the house, he would be  _ safe _ , the hunting would stop, and that was what Katsuki wanted most.

_ (Besides for this whole thing to stop, and to go home and curl up with his mom the way he hadn’t since he was four.) _

And, just when he thought his legs were going to fold under him, he spotted it-

On a rise, up in the trees. It was a large and sturdy tree house, blending with the treetops well enough he almost would have missed it- except he caught the movement of the ladder leading out of the trees. 

It was meant to look like hanging vines, and if the lionesses hadn’t have tried to attack him from the tree tops earlier, he would have overlooked it entirely. As it was, he’d thought the movement was another lioness about to attack him, and that was what had drawn his eye. His eyes had flashed up the ‘vines’ just to make sure it wasn’t a lioness further up, in the trees that caused them to move, and then he’d realized after a stunned moment that he was looking at a  _ house _ .

In the jungle.

A camouflaged  _ tree  _ house meant to look like it belonged, draped in vines and leaves, wood twisting elegantly into itself like reaching branches.

Not that Katsuki registered any of that at the time- he was just happy to find a  _ safe place _ , happy to see what must be the house he was supposed to find, that would put an end to the hunting.

He threw himself at the vines, and scaled them with all the speed he could muster, hauling his body up and crashing headlong into the flooring of the house as soon as he could.

He froze there, waiting, praying.

The snarls of the lionesses quieted, and when he looked down, he could see their eyes watching him. They made no move to follow, and after a few moments, those eyes began to back away and fade into the plant life around him.

Katsuki went limp, sprawled across the wooden flooring, and stared up into the tree leafs with breathless relief.

And then he burst into great, heaving sobs.

_ He was alive. _

_ He was alive and despite any minor wounds he had gotten crashing through the jungle, he was relatively whole. _

* * *

Izuku sobbed, tumbling down another smaller ravine. 

He had discovered, sliding down that first ravine that the plants had a harder time following him  _ down _ . He’d come to find that the fact they had to grow  _ over _ whatever he dropped down, and then follow, gave him time to run and put distance between them while it was growing.

It wasn’t much, but with his short frame _ \- he was only twelve he shouldn’t have to  _ ** _think like this_ ** \- every second he could use was useful. He had started high up inside the mountain range’s forest, but he was slowly and steadily rushing his way down. He eyed his surroundings trying to pinpoint how long he had been running. 

He wasn’t sure. The forest was thick enough the lighting wasn’t  _ right _ and his inner clock couldn’t tell him. He didn’t even know  _ where _ he was anymore. He was still in the jungle, but he had gone deeper into it. He couldn’t see the sky anymore.

He was so  _ tired _ . He hadn’t run this far or long ever. Not even from the bullies. At least with the bullies he could confidently say they  _ weren’t _ going to kill him.

The plants  _ would _ .

He couldn’t stop, or he’d die.

_ He didn’t know when the plants would stop. _

_ Would they  _ ** _ever_ ** _ stop? _

He couldn’t go on forever. Sooner or later, his body would  _ give out. _

* * *

Aizawa kept an eye out for a house in the jungle, remembering Katsuki’s riddle, and hoping that would give him a place to start. Give him a base to return  _ to, _ once he had the kids. He also kept his eye peeled for any strange marks on the ground or in the trees, using years of pro hero work as an underground hero to track villains, hoping that he sees a sign of the kids.

All the while, he tried to filter out sounds he doesn’t need to pay attention to, his inner paranoia and the strangeness of the sounds, the newness of  _ jungle _ vs  _ city _ making it a struggle. 

It’s been  _ too long _ , and he didn’t know how the kids were doing, wasn’t sure if they’d solved their riddles, or were still in danger and it was  _ stressing him out _ . 

Still, he got up, ignoring his tired, aching body and quickly scaled a tree. It was easier to travel in the air then on the ground and it was  _ safer. _ Not  _ safe,  _ or even  _ less dangerous _ but he was less likely to get eaten if he leapt through the tree tops then ran along the ground.

Granted, the situation could be worse, as he had a lot of experience swinging to and fro, so navigation  _ through _ the jungle wasn’t going to be as difficult as accurately  _ finding  _ someone in the jungle. Nevertheless, the situation  _ was  _ bad, but Shouta grit his teeth and kept moving.

He was an adult, a Hero, an  _ underground _ one at that and he was able to take care of himself decently well, but  _ two children? _ He needed to find them and  _ fast. _ Before-

Shouta, flipped around a particularly large tree branch, reaching out the snatch a fruit hanging from a vine.

Water, food, shelter. 

They would all be getting out of here. 

_ Alive. _

Eraserhead would make sure of that.


End file.
